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08.08.2018
Video of endangered white rhino forced to perform in circus prompts outpouring of anger
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Description
Video of endangered white rhino forced to perform in circus prompts outpouring of anger.
Wild animal poses risk to public and trainer who rides on his back, warns expert.
Footage of an endangered white rhino trained to perform in a circus has prompted an outpouring of anger and calls to boycott shows featuring live animals.
Social-media users were furious at the videos taken in Russia showing a rhino being forced to parade or carry a man on its back in a circus ring, while the trainer holds whips at the ready.
Rhinos are rarely seen in circuses, although elephants have long been used – and are being phased out following years of protests about cruel training and the unnatural conditions they are kept in.
In a clip circulating online taken at the Russian State Circus, the rhino is made to sit and let the trainer clamber onto his back before setting off to tour the ring...
Mr Nesterov says it took a year to arrange the paperwork to transport Mafa from South Africa.
The Safari Circus’s website states that it uses exotic animals, and said that in 1996 Sergei Nesterov and Elena Fedotova decided to create a new attraction with exotic animals based on an older one created by Elena's parents.
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